Reflecting on all the writings completed in class so far, the one which posed the most of a challenge would have to be the narrative essay. For the writing assignment, the instructions were to elaborate on a time where we felt like an outsider. The format had to be in one of a narrative, as through this format we are able to extract much more detail and introspective thoughts from the reader as opposed to any other format of writing. For all of my academic career, argumentative essays were more along the lines of what I was being asked to do, with no regard to any personal experiences. Thus, practicing the rhetorical terms and strategies and using the peer reviews to help in my writing process was an elemental component of the wider learning process, and requires a separate reflection in itself.
In this assignment, the overall theme was to persuade our audience that there was a time in which we were an outsider, and to describe that moment as thoroughly yet concisely as possible. The first objective that this draws upon is the “recognition and practice of rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations,” which in other terms asks us to use the components of rhetoric in our narrative essay. These components include keeping in mind the audience, providing a context, and making the experience persuasive enough to believe that this was an event in which we felt uncomfortable. Although in my narrative essay the context felt a little bit unclear, since the narrative did start off with ‘“He’s coming”. “Don’t be mean I feel bad”. “Fine just to make sure this kid doesn’t kill himself,”’ it was quickly established by the statement “That eerie sound of snickering which resonated in my ear drums each time I neared my “friends.”’ Hence, the school setting is what the reader places the situation, making the context much clearer when proceeding with the narrative.
In addition, to enhance the message of my narrative, I included personal thoughts and dialogue that was going on inside my head. One such example is when I proclaimed “Not only did this provide the reader with a glimpse of what was rushing through my mind at the time, but it allowed the reader to better contextualize my thoughts and feelings which would in turn permit them to realize what my experience of being an outsider was: exclusion from friends and tremendous, compressing self-doubt.
Another rhetoric component I made good use of in my narrative would also have to be the word choice I employed. Keeping the tone much less formal allowed me to convey the raw emotional energy I was experiencing at the moment. The best example of this unfiltered energy in my narrative is “‘Damn bro get a larger size shirt I can see your man titties from here.’‘Teletubby lookin ass. ‘Pillsbury dough boy headass.’” This was a very powerful moment for both the reader and myself, as in this moment, one can grasp the severity of the situation and the agony I, the main character, was experiencing as a result of the endless insults about my weight. Hence, the rhetoric components I incorporated into the narrative added to its overall complexity and richness.
Moving onto the next learning objective, to “develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes” is also an integral part in the revision process. In other words, this learning objective encompasses the need for peer review and back and forth conversation between the reviewer and the reviewee. My reviewer, Ide, was able to provide valuable information about the rhetoric components of my narrative and where I needed to direct my attention, as she made it clear where my narrative became unclear and which parts demanded retooling. In the peer review, Ide cited multiple components of my narrative which needed more depth. She stated “I think the beginning needs some more explanation” and “I think there could be some more expansion on the idea of feeling like an outsider in your own body.” To address these concerns, I added context in the beginning in the form of “That eerie sound of snickering which resonated in my ear drums each time I neared my “friends.”’ To suffice the concern of there not being enough expansion on the idea of feeling like an outsider in my own body, I added “The doubts about my friendships ballooned my mind with insecurities about myself, as the chubby, ignorant child I had saw in the mirror for so long turned into the source of my discomfort.” This rhetoric element introduced the idea of being an outsider in my own body, due to my insecurities about myself, and was one which I thoroughly elaborated on over the progression of the essay.
In conclusion, the peer review component of the narrative essay was very helpful in allowing me to identify some of the missing rhetoric components in my narrative. Fulfilling those objectives were key in the entire draft to editing process, as without those guidelines, it is impossible to identify possible areas of improvement. The narrative assignment as a whole was much more liberating than previous assignments I had received due to the lack of strict word count, formal guidelines, and topic, which made the entire writing process much more enjoyable than it usually would have been.
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
